Vapor-fuel apparatus



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. A.I. AMBLER. VAPOR FUEL APPARATUS.

L Patented Mar. 23, 1886.-

Fay

WITNESSES INVBN TOR l 4 (No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 2..

A. I. AMBLER.

VAPOR FUEL APPARATUS.

No. 338,461, Patented Mar. 23, 1886-.

WITNESSES .1 INVBNTOR l ATTORNEY 8L (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. I. AMBLER.. VAPOR FUEL APPARATUS.

No. 338,461. Patented Mar. 23, 1886 WITNESSES INVENTOR (No Model.)

- r 4 SheetsSheet 4. A. I. AMBLER. VAPOR FUEL APPARATUS.

Patented Mar. 23, 1886., a 6

v TNESSESi INVENTOR MEJ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

AUGUSTIN IREL AMBLER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VAPO R-FU EL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,461, dated March23, 1886.

Application filed Deeember D, 1885. Serial No. 185,187. (No model.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it. known that I, AUGUSTIN IREL AM- BLER, 0 Chicago, in'the county ofCook and State of llinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement inVapor-Fuel Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to apparatus for producing and utilizingvapor-fuel by the combined use of petroleum or its products and steam,for generating steam and other purposes, orwherever the production offlame and heat is required, including the supplying of vapor-fuel toburning brick, lime, crockery, and for the reduction of ores infurnaces, the.

The invention, however, is more particularly designed to be used inconnection with locomotive-engine boilers, 01- other boilers of thelocomotive type, and it will be described more especially with referenceto such use.

The invention consists in certain novel constructions and combinationsof parts, whereby the vaporizing of the petroleum or oil and the mixtureof the steam with it or its vapor are very perfectly and economicallysecured,

' and other advantages are obtained, substantially as hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification,

'in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts inall the figures.

Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal section of alocomotive-engine, in part, with tender, having my invention applied.Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tender with certain attachments. Fig. 3representsa plan view of a seriesof multiple retorts with connections,

applicabie'tb or forming part of the invention; Fig. 4, apartlysectional plan view of the main burner portion of theapp'aratus.Fig. 5 is a mainly sectional plan view, upon a larger scale, of-themultiple retortunder one form of its construction; Fig. 6, alongitudinal section, also upon a larger scale, ofthe burner portion ofthe apparatus; Fig. 7, a horizontal section of asingle-flue retort,which may be used in place of the multiple one; and Fig. 8, a ver tic-al longitudinal section of the fire-box end of the boiler, showing amodified construction of the bridge and a series of single'oylinderretorts.

Referring, in the first instance, or, Inn. ticularly, to the first sixfigures of the drawings. A is the fire-box of the boiler of alocomotivc'engine, or it might be any other boiler of locomotive type.

B is a water bridge, compartment, or diaphragm within the fire-box, todeflect and direct the flame against the. water-leg of the firebox, alsoagainst the crownsheet, and, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 1, directlyinto the tubes or fines of the boiler.

0 G are the main burners used to run'the locomotive, D D the multipleretorts, and E E the' burners below the retorts for heating the latter.These'several devices are all located below the water-bridge B inregular or der, one above or below the other, the main burners G 0 beingabove the retorts and the burners E E below the retorts.

The multiple retorts consist of a series of cylinders or outer boxes, 0,arranged horizontally side by side, with end compartments, d. in them,and numerous interior longitudinal tubes or fines, e, connecting saidcompartments at the opposite ends of the cylinders. The severalretortsare connect-ed together by means outer cylinders, h, connected,respectively, at their opposite ends, and with burner-orifices i in andalong them, and having a perforated longitudinal tube or due, k,extending through each of them and connected by end elbow attachments,Z, the whole being arranged so as to produce a' eturn action through theentire series of inner and outer tubes. or cylinders and tubes,respectively.

F is a pump or mixing-chamber for thesteam and oil or vapor, and m apipe connecting the one endof the retorts D with said mixer forsupplying vapor to the retorts, and a a pipe connecting the retorts withthe one end of a superheater orsuperheating-coil,G,said supers ssaeei.

heaterbeing supplied with steam at its opposite end from the steam domeor chamber of the boiler by a pipe, 0, subject to control by acock, 17,through a handle, r, from the outside of the boiler. The snperheater Gis arranged within a snction-chamber,'H, at the forward end of,.theboiler.

I is a supplementary burner arranged cross- I wise within thesuction-chamber H, to give adper part of the suction-chamber H or withinditional heat'to the superheater, or to heat the same atstarting theapparatus.

J is a perforated nozzle arranged in the upthe stack K, andthroughwhi'ch steam is blown from the pipe 0 to createa constant suctionor partial vacuum within-the chamber H toassist the draft.

The tender ofthe engine is constructed to form an inner oil-reservoir,L, for supplying the retorts D through the mixer F, and an outer watertank or reservoir, M, for supplying the boiler with water to keep up thesteam.

Oil is supplied to the mixer F from the reservoir L by a pipe, 8. Thispipe is connected at its receiving end with a chamber or circularsocket, t, in thelower part ofthe oil-reser-voir near its one end, andthrough. which the stem of a valve, a, passes, to admit oil to or toshut it off from the supply-pipe s, the

stem of said valve, which maybe a screwthreaded one, passing upward andbeing operated by a wheel or handle, '0, from above. As it is alwaysdesirable to supply the retorts with the oil which is lightest andfreest from sediment, it is supplied to the chamber or socket t from theupper surfaceof, the oil in the reservoir L, regardless of the depth ofoil therein, by means of a rising and falling pipe,

- N, provided at its upper end with a screen or rose, w, and float O,and connected at its opposite or lower end in a free or loose manner--as, for instance, by a partial ball-andsocket joint-with the chamber t.

P is an upper cylinder or chamber on or connected with the oil-reservoirL, for the pnrpose of receiving ascending vapors, produced eithermechanically or otherwise, for use in starting when steam cannot beobtained. This may be done by well-known means-as, for

instance, by a force-pump and pipe connected with the bottom of theoil-reservoir. Steam is applied to the mixer F by a pipe,

- a, and b is a valve,with its attached stem and wheel, for controllingthe flow of steam therethrough.

0 indicates the valve to regulate and control the flow and supply of oilby the pipe .9 to the mixer F.

d, Fig. 3, is a valve in a branch pipe, 6', to

regulate and control the flow of steam to the' retorts in starting.

f is the pipe to conduct the vapor from the multiple retorts D, throughbranch pipes and valves 9 h, to the burnersC and E above and below theretorts, the valve g controlling the supply to the burners G, and thevalve h,

, which may be worked by a lever, (notshown here,) controlling thesupply to theburners E.

t" is a pipe having a contro1ling valve,'k,

for conveying steam through perforations t. in the pipes k to andthrough the orifices iii the burners, to quicken the draft and assistcombustion.

All the pipes which are exposed should have an asbestos or othersuitable covering, as shown, for the portion of the pipen which passesbeneath the boiler.

A pipe, m, provided with a valve, n' ,'may be arranged to connect theapparatus with a donkey-boiler(notshownfi for supplying steam .atstarting, and bywhich and the connectingpipes steam may be caused toflow to all parts of the apparatus, and may be so continued by theoperation of the-proper valves until steam of a suitable pressure isobtainedin the main boiler or boiler proper of the apparatus,wheuconnection with the donkey-boiler may be shu off.

The interior construction of the multiple retorts, as hereinbeforedescribed,'is more clearly seen in Fig. 5, in which, although therelative arrangements of the vapor-connecting. .pipes at f andsteam-eonnecting pipes 11. e are somewhat different to the arrangementshown in Fig. 3, andonl y three connected retorts are represented, thereturn action or course of the steam through the tubes or pipes e, andvapor through the outside cylinders or pipes, 0, (shown by a1=rows,)'isthe same, the invention not being restricted to any precise arrange:

ment of the connections,nor yetto the numdnfg'through the tubes 6, whichconnect at their opposite ends with the steam-chambers d. One, a", ofthe heads a a", in which these tubes ewithin each cylinder 0 fit, iswelded or otherwise securely attached to the cylinder in a steam-tightmanner.

The other head, a, in which the opposite ends of the tubes 6 fit, is ofa piston-like construction, with a metallic springpacking in itsperiphery to make a close but slidingjoint with the interior of thecylinder. This construction compensates for anyinequality in'theexpansion and contraction' of "the inneian'd onte'ftubem'orcylind'ers Ifdesired, steamways may be and tubes. used in the heads a and endportions of the tubes 9 fitting therein, to admit steam to the backs ofthe metallic packiugs, to secure their close and more perfect action, asshown in Fig.- 7 of'the drawings. This figure represents a modifiedconstruction of the retort, in

which each cylinder or chamber 0 has but one steam-tube 6 within it. 8of the drawings shows such modified construction of the retort orretorts in place within the fire-box of the boiler, and a modifiedconstruction of or substitute for the bridge B, the same being designedto show that the ordinary brick arch or cross-tubes, with or withoutbrick, may be employed to deflect the flame instead of the water-bridgeshown in Fig. 1.

The operation is as follows: Steam having been made in the boiler, thevalve p in the pipe 0 is opened, which allows of the steam passing toand through the superheaterand to and through all parts of the apparatusto which it is requiredor desirable to admit it as, for instance, to andthrough the steampipes in the retort and in the burners. When theretorts and other parts are thoroughly heated up, the valve admittingsteam to the mixer F, also the valve admitting oil to the mixer, areopened, and from thence the combined oil and steam are passed into thevapor spaces or chambers of the retort, steam being admitted also to allthe tubes and steamchambers of the retort, the steam starting from thedome and entering the retort by the pipe n, and the oil supplied fromthe oil-reservoir passing first to the mixer F by the pipes s, andafterward, in a broken-up condition and mixed with the steam, by thepipe m to the vapor -chambers of the retort, from whence the vapor, in ahighly-heated condition, by reason of the steam-pipes in the re-, tortand burners E on the outside thereof, passes and keeps up the supply tothe burners C and E. When the vapor is thus made "or becomes'sufliciently inflammable to burn doing the work it is required toperform.

This by experience the operator will soon be familiar with, so as toobtain the best or most desirable results.

It will readily be seen that by a proper manipnlation of the valves theoperator may have the most perfect control over the heat and flame, aswellas its quality or character,

and that he can turn his flame down to a series of mere jets, or, ifnecessary, fill the fire-box, boiler-fiues, and suction-chamber in frontof the boiler with flame, and that these or other changes can be madeinstantaneously.

The invention essentially dili'ers from amere j atomizing system ofdevices,and will be found nection with the'flame produced from thevapor.-

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. In apparatus for the production and use asvapor fuel of petroleum or its products and steam combined, thecombination, with a mixer of the oil and steam, of a retort or retortsfor'heating the vapor derived from said mixer, and a series of burnersarranged above and below said retorts, and arranged to receive theirsupply of heated vapor from the retorts, essentially as described.

2. In vapor-fuel apparatus, the combination, with oil'and waterreservoirs and tanks, of a steam-boiler of locomotive type, having asuction-chamber in its forward end, a su-- perheater for the'steam, asteam and oil mixer, a retort or retorts arranged within the firebox ofthe boiler, burners arranged aboveand below said retorts and connectedwith them, and pipes and valves connecting and controlling the supply ofoil and steam to the mixer and retorts, and vapor from the retorts tothe burners, substantially as described.

3. The-retort or retorts of theapparatus,

'use'of vapor-fuel, the combination of an oil and steam supply, a mixerand force-pump, retort-cylinders closed at each end, internal steamheating tubes,steam-chambers,a vaporchamber in each cylinder, andconnectingpipes for the passage of the steam and vapor from onecylinderto the other'of the retort,

substantially as shown and described.

5. The cylinders forming the outer casings of each part of the multipleretort, the headings therein, the internal steam-heating tubes, thesteam-chambers, and vapor-chambers, combined with the pipes connectingthe steamchambers and the vapor-chambers of each retort, and the pipesand valves connecting lthehapparatus with the supply of oil and steamand the burners, substantially as described.

AUGUSTIN IREL 'AMBLER.

Witnesses:

E,-T. WILLIAMS, Eben HOLMES.

